Step 7: Update: Re-potting and dispelling some myths

In response to some very helpful advice I decided to re-pot my plants in suitable soil that they can continue to live in. There were some very const...

Step 7: Update: Re-potting and dispelling some myths

In response to some very helpful advice I decided to re-pot my plants in suitable soil that they can continue to live in.

There were some very constructive comments and some people were kind enough to PM with concern about the health of my CP's. I'm happy to report planting them in regular potting soil will not kill them quickly. The wrong water and fertilizers will knock them out fairly quickly but the soil itself is a slower death and not at all a death sentence.

After conferring with some knowledgeable professionals including a couple botanists, a pro grower and a soil science guy I sorted out what constitutes good soil for these plants, what kills them and why.

After a week(it took forever to find the materials here in the city) waiting in regular potting soil my plants are re-potted and still thriving with no reason to think they'll croak. Death by bad soil can take several months and possibly longer if the soil profile is deep enough for the mineral content to leach to the bottom. Areas with high heat or low humidity where water evaporates quickly will have a much shorter safe window to correct a problem like this.

You can see the tear down and repotting in the images. So, now they have the things they need to thrive, sun, distilled water, acid soil free of minerals and chemicals and even a few lab pests to eat!

At this point if anything takes them out it'll be life in a smallish terrarium. Considering an arduino based hydro-thermograph as well, just to really track exactly what's going on in there.

Planning on setting up another terrarium or two and have the materials on order.